The morning sun was exceptionally bright today, its dappled light filtering through the treetops to shine on the embers in the fire pit.
After the grand bonfire feast, Chen Yu had slept comfortably and didn't wake until the next day.
His Slime senses gradually returned from a sweet dream, and the first thing he felt was a bit of a squeeze.
If he had to describe it, it was like having his forehead caught in a door.
His Slime fluid sprang back into a three-dimensional shape. Chen Yu opened his eyes and saw some undigested remnants still in his Gel stomach.
He was lying on the bed of leaves in Sergash's shelter. After hopping to the ground, he realized he had grown another size larger.
He was now about the same size as the Slime mother. The Beetle helmet he wore no longer fit so snugly; the squeezing sensation was coming from it.
Besides that, he also noticed that his Gel skin seemed to be covered by a supple, thin membrane.
[Devouring and Digesting Lv. 2 triggered—Complete record of Poisonous Sting Bee characteristics logged. Acquired talent: Toxin Resistance Lv. 1]
[Devouring and Digesting Lv. 2 triggered—Complete record of Beetle characteristics logged. Acquired talent: Tough Shell Lv. 1]
—
Race: Antitoxic Slime
Level: Black Iron Lv. 3 [EXP: 3/30]
Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Lv. 3 [Spiritual Power: 14/30]
Status: Healthy [HP: 105/105]
Racial Talent: Devouring and Digesting Lv. 2
Other Talents: Acid Secretion Lv. 2, Toxin Resistance Lv. 1, Tough Shell Lv. 1
Skill List: Kaiyuan Baojuan Lv. 4, Artifact Manipulation Skill Lv. 3, Little Arrow Skill Lv. 1, Sound Transmission Skill Lv. 1
Reputation Title: Slime Warrior (A fledgling Slime)
—
Hm?
'So this supple membrane is the new talent I got from digesting the Beetle.'
'But it doesn't seem very reliable.'
Chen Yu took off the Beetle helmet, and the squeezing sensation disappeared.
He wobbled his body, and the Slime membrane wobbled with him, not impeding his movements at all.
It seemed that even the same talent manifested differently in different monsters.
The Beetle condensed a thick chitinous shell, while the Slime condensed a thickened version of Slime Gel. Its defense was probably weaker, but it didn't affect his flexibility.
'Pros and cons, I guess.'
Chen Yu felt that the shell talent actually had a lot of potential.
As for the other talent, Toxin Resistance... to think he had gotten it by digesting a Poisonous Sting Bee.
Chen Yu had thought he was going to get some kind of Poisonous Sting-shooting ability.
He already had his Flying Sword and Little Arrow Skill, so a Poisonous Sting-shooting ability would have been a trash skill for him. Toxin Resistance, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise.
This Swamp Forest was perpetually shrouded in a poisonous fog, and most of the monsters living here were venomous. The deeper one went into the swamp, the thicker the fog became. Without toxin resistance, it would be impossible to withstand it.
Needless to say, Chen Yu ranked this talent second on his potential list.
As for what was first?
Devouring and Digesting, of course—the mother of Toxin Resistance.
Chen Yu looked around but didn't see Sergash. He figured she had probably gone out to hunt.
He returned to the base of the tree where the battle had taken place yesterday. Without using acid to dissolve it, he directly absorbed a Poisonous Sting into his Gel.
"SZZZZZ!"
The instant the Poisonous Sting entered his body, it immediately reacted with his Gel. It was like boiling water giving off steam, but it then quieted down.
Nothing happened.
But "nothing happening" was the biggest surprise of all.
Chen Yu bubbled with joy.
'This Toxin Resistance can actually withstand the corrosion of a Poisonous Sting! I've really lucked out.'
He picked up a few more Poisonous Stings to test. He discovered that the substance neutralizing the toxin seemed to be a special Slime fluid coming from his Magic Organ.
After this Slime fluid was used up, although his Gel was still resistant to the toxin, it couldn't process it and could only expel it.
'Magic Power is truly amazing,' he had to admit.
The Magic Organ could not only secrete acid but also antitoxic fluid.
And compared to before, it seemed that the only change was that the magic patterns had become a bit more profound, but there were no other differences.
"Guuu..."
A hungry gurgle pulled his thoughts back to reality. He then remembered that while the Slime was full, his body in the Void Profound Heaven had been hungry for half a day.
His consciousness returned to the thatched hut. He quickly got up, started a fire, and cooked a meal. After being busy for a good while, he finally filled his rumbling stomach.
The hut's door was open, and just then, he saw someone walking back from outside the bamboo forest.
It wasn't the junior brother Shao Qingsong had sent to pick up the Slime Acid, but Shao Qingsong himself.
He was back from the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons.
However, compared to when he left, he now looked rather pathetic. One side of his face was so swollen he couldn't open his eye, as if he'd been punched several times. The sight was as comical as it gets.
His left hand also seemed to be injured; one could faintly see red, swollen skin wrapped in a bandage.
"Hiss—Suh... suff'rin'..."
Chen Yu struggled to maintain a neutral expression.
"Senior Brother, didn't you go to the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons to train? How did you end up looking like this?"
Shao Qingsong wiped the drool from the corner of his swollen mouth and managed to speak clearly.
"Tha... that's right. The poisons in the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons are just that potent."
"Senior Sister Gong said that, in... in my condition... if I don't take an Antitoxic Pill, it'll take another three or four days to get better."
"Then why don't you take an Antitoxic Pill?"
Chen Yu suspected he was toughing it out for no reason.
Shao Qingsong was silent for a long moment before squeezing out a few words.
"Ackshully... 'm broke."
An idea suddenly sparked in Chen Yu's mind.
"Wait here for me. As it happens, I've mixed a new batch of Antitoxic Spirit Liquid."
He turned and went into the thatched hut, took out a celadon porcelain bottle, and condensed the antitoxic fluid drop by drop from his magic patterns until the bottle was full.
'Is one bottle the limit?'
Chen Yu muttered to himself, then went out and handed the porcelain bottle to Shao Qingsong.
"Fou... Fourth Brother, is this free?"
"I won't charge you Spirit Stones."
"Try putting some on your face."
"Al... alright, hiss..."
The man endured the pain and carefully poured out a little liquid, smearing it on his face.
"Hm? It's a little itchy..."
At first, he didn't feel much, but that was immediately followed by a cooling sensation that washed over him. The burning feeling on his face vanished, and the swelling began to subside at a visible rate.
A look of joy appeared on Shao Qingsong's face. He repeatedly touched his cheek, his speech already much clearer.
"Junior Brother, this Antitoxic Spirit Liquid of yours is miraculous!"
"Its effect is almost as good as the Hundred Herbs Pill refined by the Pill Masters from the Pill Hall."
"How many Spirit Stones do you think it could sell for?"
Hearing this, Shao Qingsong quickly started calculating in his head.
"If you sell this kind of life-saving stuff within the sect, it would probably go for over a hundred Shattered Spirits a bottle. But if you sell it in front of the forest of the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons, you could easily get two Spirit Stones."
"Junior Brother, what you're saying is?"
"From now on, we stop selling Corrosive Potion and sell Antitoxic Spirit Liquid instead."
The two of them settled the details of their deal, and a smile nearly split Shao Qingsong's face.
A price of two Spirit Stones was a bit high, but it wasn't impossible to make a profit. As long as one went a little deeper into the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons, there would always be someone who needed it.
"Senior Brother, do you have any Dao Coupons?"
Chen Yu's sudden question brought him back to his senses.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've been wanting to learn the art of talisman crafting recently."
Ever since discovering the gray gravel crystals, Chen Yu's mind had become much more active. Among the four arts of arrays, talismans, pills, and artifacts, talisman crafting relied more on the Talisman Master's technique and less on materials. Perhaps he could find alternative talisman paper and Talisman Ink in Zeyarira.
'I'll practice for now. A Talisman could save my life at a critical moment.'
Shao Qingsong chuckled. "You don't need to go through the trouble of using a Dao Coupon. If you want to learn, Junior Brother, I'll bring you a book in a few days."
"But it might not have that many Talisman Maps inside."
"That's enough. Thank you, Senior Brother."
"Junior Brother, I still need to make a trip to Senior Sister Gong's place and have her check if there are any latent injuries."
"So I won't stay any longer. Farewell."
After watching Shao Qingsong leave, Chen Yu went back inside his hut and opened up the Illusionary Array Map he had bought before to study it.
It wasn't until noon that he saw Sergash's figure emerge frantically from the poisonous fog.